This call may be monitored...

So, you may have seen the pictures on Facebook from when I hurt my hand. I won't repost them here but I'll just tell you how it happened. When I moved into the new apartment, I got into the habit of first thing in the morning, reading my scriptures. I'm often too tired after I get home from work and if I get up in the morning and get into something else, it's hard to draw myself away from it to get to scriptures before I have to go to work. So first thing is what works for me.

Well, for some reason, on Sunday the 3rd of December, I got into my new favorite show, Grimm, first thing instead, with vague, mental promises to read my scriptures before I had to leave for church. You know how that goes, right? Especially when competing with a television show for relevance. So, I was listening to Grimm on my tablet and making myself a tuna fish sandwich for lunch. My roommate's can opener would not move forward with the turning of the lever BUT it would push the blade through the can when the handles were squeezed together. Like, you know how a can opener "locks" and pops the blade through the top of the can? Yeah, I just made it do that a bunch of times, putting the holes as close together as I could.

Sometimes, it wasn't close enough, so, there would still be small pieces of the lid keeping it closed. Some of them were easy to snap when I pried at it with a fork but others were keeping it closed. I thought if I pulled at the lid with my hand... Oh. Yeah. You can see where this is going and how foolish it was.

Thankfully, Heavenly Father decided not to punish me too harshly for my stupidity, as I didn't hit the nerve, the muscle, nor the vein. It was only skin deep but still deep enough that a simple bandaid would not be enough and I needed 3 stitches. There was a disconnect when it first happened that I didn't realize how bad it was or what had even happened. Because it didn't start to bleed until I was running around looking for a napkin and it didn't actually start to hurt until we were in the ER.

My roommate, Angela, jumped into action, grabbing the first aid kit. She poured rubbing alcohol onto it and dressed it for me and then drove me to the ER. Jessica, my other roommate, helped keep me steady, emotionally, as I got queasy and lightheaded, by talking to me and asking me questions during the car ride, then telling me dad jokes while we waited for the doctor. And Angela showed us dry bar stand up comedy videos on her phone while the doctor stitched me up. At the absolute least, I know my roommates can be fun and entertaining. At the most, I know they can be depended on in a crisis. ❥ For Christmas, I bought myself and my roommate can openers, lol.

The next day, work put me on a new survey because they were still testing it out and the client would be monitoring it with them to see how it sounded. It was an annoying survey with a flaw in the beginning that kicked half the people out of it. But I have been told that I am one of their top people because I sound really professional on the phone. So, they like to put me on the client monitored surveys because of how good I am, not just to torture me, which was my first impression. Which is nice to know even though I prefer the Thrivent project and don't like to dial anything else(other surveys aren't bad, I just really like that project above everything else, lol). I suppose "because I'm good at it" is a good reason to get tormented by a survey.

When the Bishop asked me during tithing settlement if I've seen any blessings in my life from paying tithing, to tell the truth, I hadn't thought about it like that at all. Ever since I returned to church, paying tithing has never been a question to me. I guess because it's the easy thing to do. Keeping up with the spiritual maintenance stuff, like service, scripture reading, and daily prayer, take more effort, more commitment and thought. I know, in my heart, no matter the ups and downs of my commitment level, that I owe Him everything. That every blessing and physical comfort are gifts from Him. That here on earth, I am merely a steward of everything I own and that they truly belong to Him. So, even when I grow lazy on the other stuff, paying tithing never needs the extra effort or thought because all of it is His to begin with. Even if I need money and tithing feels like it hurts, I know He will look after my needs. If I do what He asks of me, I don't need to worry about anything else.

But truthfully, I have felt the blessings of paying tithing. We get monitored once a day at the call center and I usually get 95s and 100s on my daily scores. Right after Thanksgiving, the supervisor in charge of the monitoring department, monitored me on a survey and gave me an 85, the lowest you can get before you start losing points(lose enough points in a short amount of time and you could get fired). After all of the high scores I'd been getting, that made me mad, so, I made some drastic changes to my method of doing surveys, based upon his criticisms. They don't like you to say "um" or "oh" or anything like that, so, to be a brat, I started basically envisioning myself as a robot while on the phone. Anytime I got the urge to say "uh" or "mhm" I stone-faced it and pretended I was an emotionless android, dishing out a scripted pat response in an even-tone instead, lol.

Ever since November 28th, I've worked 12 days and gotten 11 100s on my daily scores, with one day being a 95. I'm not trying to brag but more shocked that my passive aggressiveness actually worked. There have been times when I still make mistakes but since they only monitor you once a day, for some reason, they've been missing those surveys and listening to the good ones I put out each day. Considering how low my score was merely 3 weeks ago, I find it astonishing and definitely divinely inspired to have been blessed so much in such a short amount of time. I'm not saying passive aggressiveness works - no, you shouldn't do that, don't be like me - but that keeping the Lord in mind and paying tithing gives you blessings.

Tuesday, the 5th, we had a pre-shift briefing and my manager gave out the awards for the month of November, handing me one for having the most hours worked for the month. I got a little paper award and a gift card as a reward! THEN, as I start my shift, I am corralled with 4 other people into the training room, where we are informed that we were chosen, as some of the center's top producers, to be on a new, special survey that our center has gotten the privilege to dial on. It was a good survey and very fun to do and I am so thankful that I got to be a part of that.

On Sunday it was announced that on Tuesday, the ward mission leaders would be going out to find people in our ward that we haven't been able to find, to offer them fellowship during this holiday season. It was opened up to the entire ward to participate and come help out. I wrote it down in my notebook because it sounded like something I was interested in but by Tuesday, I was debating going.

However, I felt like it was an answer to my prayers, debating whether I should go or not, when I had such a wonderful day at work with all of those blessings(awards and new special project, etc.) and I felt like Heavenly Father was somehow making the decision easier for me to make. That giving me so much would encourage me to want to give back to others, which is what I actually felt. So, once I was done with work, I went over to the church to make myself available. I had thought, since it was announced in sacrament meeting that it would have an FHE level turnout. Other than the 3 people with the ward mission callings and Brother Bahr, the 2nd counselor of the bishopric, I was the only other person to show up. That was also where I learned that Angela, my roommate, has a calling with the ward mission leader(I'm not sure exactly what it is, but I know she was supposed to be there).

I am so grateful for the opportunity to go. Angela and I paired up and went to 3 different houses to visit with some sisters and gave them the daily spiritual thought offered by the church's Light the World initiative. Angela is a wonderful partner. She is so loving and personable. The way that she connects and genuinely cares about others, it inspires me to feel and show that love as well. It's one of the things I really admire about her and I hope that I get more opportunities to work with her and learn from her. Before I moved to Rexburg, President Cooper told me to attach myself to people who are busy running around and doing the Lord's work and I definitely think she fits that description.

We went out again this past Tuesday and although Brother Bahr did not join us, we had 3 extra people show up to help! I was paired up with Angela again but it really warmed my heart to see our ward members get involved and extending this hand of love. Afterwards, we all went out for some discounted frozen yogurt at Kiwi Loco.

Now that I've started, I don't want to stop. I am hoping that if I continue to make my heart willing that the Lord will continue to present me with these opportunities to serve. It was one of those things that was hard for me to do back in Pennsylvania because of how much I depended on others. That is still somewhat true here but I feel like there are more opportunities and it's easier to reach out.

I have a strong testimony of tithing and the blessings we receive if we give back to the Lord. I have experienced first hand the Lord blessing my employment and making me more financially able to give to others. I also have a testimony of service, that if we have a willing heart, we will be presented with opportunities and those who need our help. And I know that we are doing the Lord's work when we reach out to others with love and charity in our hearts. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.